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Chicago Public Schools plans to close 54 schools in June, but a new Chicago Teachers Union
study raises questions about whether the district has the capacity to
close that many in such a short time, given its issues with closing at
least one of four schools last year.

Once Englewood’s Simon
Guggenheim Elementary closed last year, only 37 percent of its
non-graduating students enrolled at the designated receiving school, Carrie Jacobs Bond Elementary, according to CTU’s “A Tale of Two Schools” study.

Also, CPS has yet to account for 23 former Guggenheim students, the study added.

“To
lose any student, let alone that many ... it’s just dangerous, and it just
baffles me how CPS thinks that this is a good plan, when for the past
10 years or so, when these school closings started, they’ve never been
able to get it right, because it’s not right,” said Action Now Executive Director Katelyn Johnson.

Guggenheim
was on CPS’ school closing “hit list” in 2010, but was removed after the potential closure incited strong opposition from community members.

But the school’s
“revolving door” of CPS-appointed administrators after 2010, paired
with few resources from CPS, made it difficult for the school to
maintain any real plan for improvement, the union said.

Last year, CPS cited Guggenheim’s poor test scores as a reason to ultimately close the school, according to the study.

The
union’s analysis also included staff, parent and community member testimony
regarding the school’s overcrowded classes, overwhelmed teachers,
hostile administrator attitudes toward parents and inadequate learning
materials, among other concerns.

This year, CPS is looking to close 54 schools, consolidate 11 and turnaround another six. The Chicago Board of Education is expected to vote on the actions next month.

Brown said the report’s case study of Guggenheim could be repeated at several other schools that have closed in recent years.

“Young
people’s education has been harmed,” he said. “Young people’s safety
has been compromised, young people have been jumped on, young people
have fallen behind. Our communities have been destabilized as a result
of these actions.”

The study also cited mishandling of
Guggenheim’s more than 60 homeless students, saying the principal
devised a plan to transfer the kids to another school before community
meetings were held.

CPS also replaced most of the Students in
Temporary Living Situations staff over the summer as they were making
progress in arranging necessary supports for students with unstable
homes, according to the union.

Students across the district not directly
impacted by the most recent round of school actions are living in
constant fear that their schools may be on the chopping block next, the study also noted.

“CPS
has consistently neglected to provide Biedler with essential resources,
leading the community to believe the district does not have long-term
plans for the school,” the report reads. “The school’s precarious
status affects student performance, forcing children to worry not only
about their lessons but also where they will be attending school the
next year.”

Johnson agreed that CPS’ “reckless” policies have created a culture of fear among students, teachers and communities.

“Given
the other hits our neighborhoods have taken via housing and violence,
(closing schools) just creates this sense of chaos and a sense of panic,
and the community members and parents just don’t deserve that,” she
said.

CPS announced it wanted to close Beidler in 2011 and turn
the school’s building over to Urban Prep’s East Garfield Park
Campus, a charter school. CPS later withdrew the proposal after outrage
from the community.

But two years later, Beidler was on CPS’
initial list of schools targeted for closure at the end of this year,
which renewed fear in the community, the union said.

Beidler
didn’t make it onto CPS’ final list, but the community is worried it
will have to fight off more closure threats in the future, according to
the report.

“Parents
are like, ‘We’re just at the place where we’re ready to soar, we’ve got
a strong Local School Council, a good principal, a good corps of
teachers, and you’re getting ready to bring in 300 children from another
neighborhood,’” Brown said.

Closing and consolidating schools
in Chicago is the “status quo,” Brown added. Johnson says she isn’t too optimistic that school actions will stop anytime soon.

“Until
we get an elected representative school board, and until we get elected
leadership who truly stands for the community, unfortunately these
policies will continue,” she said. “On the ground and in the streets, we
all see that this has nothing to do with anything that CPS is saying, but
in fact, it’s a siege on our communities.”